02 February 2009

Don't laugh, but Eric Dondero writes that conservative punks could become the norm as left-wing ideology is the dominant political paradigm. With its traditions of DIY culture, anti-authoritarianism, and hardcore individuality amidst a sea of suburban wankers, punk rock could find a home in No-Bamaism. Big Hollywood analyzes:

Lefty politics are no longer the fringe and no matter if the voters knew it or not they carved lefty politics into stone. Bill Ayers became the system he once fought against. Sure, they still wear the earring and say “fuck” a lot to maintain street-cred among the academics, but now rock has taken sides — it is for the establishment. Same with journalism, the university and pop-culture. The left has become a cliché. They’re not “Arrested Development” they’re “Golden Girls” with a soul patch. Snore.

Now that the art nerds and punks just became the football jocks and prom queens, a new rebel is emerging from the wilderness. They are the new anti-establishment. One minority force bands together against every other branch of government swallowed by the Democrat octopus. The last evidence of a check or balance against the popular people are now the Conservative Republicans.

The author of this piece pays homage to the late, great Johnny Ramone, and I can confirm from personal observation that he was a patriot before it became fashionable late last year. He unfurled a small American flag at the backdrop of a show in LA just after 9/11. There is some historical precedence for this in the genre and ethos, like when Screeching Weasel had an angry 58-second tune railing against faux-liberal compassion, while the UK Subs lamented big-government/nanny-state corruption with Organised Crime. And who can forget Op Ivy's Healthy Body, Sick Mind, which slams suburban yuppie culture (the same cadre of Subaru-driving drones that voted Obama).

I appreciate what Andrew Breitbart is doing trying to get young people onboard the right-wing bandwagon, and there are some othergreat sites that preach conservatism to the young and disillusioned. But it's going to hit a roadblock against the type of social conservatism that leads citizens to get in a tiff over things like Michael Phelps taking bong rips. Perhaps Michael Steele will do a better job of convincing Americans that the GOP isn't just about old white guys golfing in stupid hats. It's an odd time for politics, and stranger things have happened.

4
comments:

The great thing about Punk is it just hates whoever is in control. In my high school era all the Punk bands despised Reagan, but this hardly meant they were liberals. If any of the bands said something along the "give peace a chance" lines the audience would have turned on them. Come to think of it all the Straight Edge dudes began to multiply then, too. Yeah they were sober, but they sure did like to fight. I miss nihilism.

Who is This Clown?

Nixon is a former Navy guy who did a couple of deployments at sea and spent a year in Iraq. He enjoys reading and writing about the strange intersection between war, politics, and the media. He enjoys being an ex-pat and NGO employee in Bangkok for the time being.